Citiwire

Holiday festival markets are flourishing in central city squares across America, following the model of the great Christmas markets of Germany and other European countries.

Reporting on a topic of discussion at the Greening Greater Washington Conference, Neal Peirce expounds on how public transit choices has bolstered regionalism around the nation's capital.

Cities across the country are making efforts to encourage people to buy locally and support the local economy. Food is the main target for local boosters.

Infrastructure costs are towering in the U.S., but much of that could be because of old habits in road building. This column looks at how cities and states can reduce their infrastructure costs.

Public transit is expensive, and most transit agencies don't make money. But Hong Kong's MTR is different.

At the Ford foundations 75th anniversary, Citiwire’s Neal Peirce reports how “ground urban strategies in inclusion and equity” is the secret to a “Just City.”

Through a combination of local food initiatives and the installation of a new high-speed fiber optic network, the city of Chattanooga is hoping to continue its trend of recovering from years of industrial decline.

In Stockholm, Sweden, planners are moving ahead with a broad central city redevelopment plan that seeks to continue the city's trend of reducing car traffic and congestion, and making it easier for bikers, walkers and transit takers to get around.

Japan is typically associated with strong disaster preparedness plans, but the devastation following the March tsunami highlights some of the nation's shortcomings in adapting and reacting, according to this piece from Citiwire.

The mayors of the world's biggest cities convened in Sao Paolo recently to team up against climate change and sea level rise. Neal Peirce sees much promise in the effort.

Informal settlements like slums and favelas have been perplexing governments in Latin America for decades. A new report looks at two of the ways governments are addressing these areas, and the challenges that remain.

Tom Wright, Executive Director of the Regional Plan Association, traces the history of the Mayors' Institute on City Design from its creation 25 years ago to last week's conference which was attended by some of the country's most important mayors.

Sustainability-focused programs offered at the federal level have received overwhelming support from communities and protection from budget cuts, even in an age of tightened budgets.

In this article, Roberta Brandes Gratz argues that demolition-based strategies are not an effective way for shrinking cities to promote revitalization. Instead, she cites a recent auction of blighted homes in New Orleans as a better alternative.

Cities should be mad about the federal government's cutting of discretionary spending and not reducing defense spending, according to this column from Neal Peirce.

Port-au-Prince, the devastated capital of Haiti, is far from recovery. But as it and the rest of the country tries to rebound, some are thinking creatively about how best to rebuild the city's center.

There are many challenges facing cities and suburbs across the country. How they handle such issues may determine if they thrive or fail in the 21st century, writes Mary Newsom.

Neal Peirce expounds on the increasing power and importance of cities, a dominant message in the new book "Triumph of the City" by economist Edward Glaeser.

Regional water issues are of major concern in many parts of the world. The Chicago area is especially sensitive to water. New efforts are underway there to help preserve a threatened resource.

Mega-cities of 10 million people or more are getting a lot of attention these days. But smaller big cities are really where interesting and potentially hazardous growth patterns are occurring, according to this piece.